What to Do if the Imam Unintentionally Changed the Meanings of the Quran

CategoriesSalaah [869]

Fatwa ID: 04370

Answered by: Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

 

Question:

 

If I unintentionally make a mistake that changes the meaning of the Quran, can I fix it and move on or is my salah immediately invalidated?

 

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

 

 

Answer:

 

 

The Hanafi jurists have mentioned the following rules with regards to making a mistake in recitation during salah:

 

  1. If the person makes such a mistake in which the meaning of the Holy Quran is changed.  The Salah, in this case, will be deemed invalid irrespective of whether three verses of the Holy Quran was recited or not.
  2. If the mistake is such that the harakaats were changed.  For example, zabar was read instead of zer etc.  In this situation, the salah will not be rendered invalid.  However, if by changing the harakaats the meaning of the Holy Quran changed then the salah will become void.
  3. If a person reads a certain letter instead of another letter and it was possible to differentiate between both without any difficulty the salah will break.  However, if it was difficult to differentiate between the letters for example ‘seen and saad’ then if he changed it intentionally the salah will be rendered void, otherwise it will be considered intact.
  4. If a person reads extra words in which the meaning of the verse changed the Salah will be rendered invalid, whether the extra words he read were in the Holy Quran or not.  However, if the meaning does not change then whether the extra words he read are mentioned in the Holy Quran or not, his salah will remain intact.  (Fatawa Hindiyyah p.79 v.1)

 

Regarding your question, as the meanings of the Quran changed it will be necessary to repeat the Salah again even if it was done unintentionally. 

 

 

Only Allah knows best

Written by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

 

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